Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan PP (Punjabi: نصرت فتح علی خان, Punjabi pronunciation: [nʊsˈɾət̪ ˈfət̪e(ɦ) əliː ˈxɑːn]; born Pervez Fateh Ali Khan; 13 October 1948 – 16 August 1997), popularly abbreviated as NFAK was a Hazara Pakistani singer, songwriter, and music director. He was primarily a singer of qawwali, a form of Sufi devotional music.[1] Often called the "Shahenshah-e-Qawwali" (the King of Kings of Qawwali),[2][3] he is considered by The New York Times to be the greatest Qawwali singer of all time.[4] He was described as the fourth greatest singer of all time by LA Weekly in 2016.[5] He was known for his vocal abilities and could perform at a high level of intensity for several hours.[6][7][8][9] Khan is widely credited with introducing Qawwali music to international audiences. He was also a master of Hindustani classical music.[10]

Born in Lyallpur (Faisalabad), Khan had his first public performance at the age of 15 at his father's chelum. He became the head of the family qawwali party in 1971 and brought his unique style of sargam, khayal, and rhythm to his family's legacy.[11] He was signed by Oriental Star Agencies, Birmingham, England, in the early 1980s. Khan went on to release movie scores and albums in Europe, India, Japan, Pakistan, and the U.S. He engaged in collaborations and experiments with Western artists, becoming a well-known world music artist. He toured extensively, performing in over 40 countries.[12] In addition to popularising qawwali music, he also had a profound impact on contemporary South Asian popular music, including Pakistani pop, Indian pop, and Bollywood music.[12][13][14]

Biography
Early life

General Burki and a young Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (biting his thumb) pictured at a winter wedding of Pashtuns in Jalandhar (1961)
Khan was born into a Punjabi Muslim family[15][16] in Lyallpur (modern-day Faisalabad), Punjab, Pakistan, in 1948. Khan's family had emigrated from Basti Sheikh Darvesh to Jalandhar in the 1000s.[clarification needed][17] His ancestors learned music and singing there and adopted it as a profession.[18] He was the fifth child and first son of Fateh Ali Khan, a musicologist, vocalist, instrumentalist, and qawwal. Khan's family, which included four older sisters and a younger brother, Farrukh Fateh Ali Khan, grew up in central Faisalabad. The tradition of qawwali in the family has been passed down through successive generations for almost 600 years.[19] Initially, his father did not want Khan to follow the family's vocation. He had his heart set on Nusrat choosing a much more respectable career path and becoming a doctor or engineer because he felt qawwali artists had low social status. However, Khan showed such an aptitude for and interest in qawwali, that his father finally relented.[20]

Early career
In 1971, after the death of his uncle Mubarak Ali Khan, Khan became the official leader of the family qawwali party, and the party became known as Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Mujahid Mubarak Ali Khan & Party. Khan's first public performance as the leader of the qawwali party was at a studio recording broadcast as part of an annual music festival organized by Radio Pakistan, known as Jashn-e-Baharan. Khan sang mainly in Urdu and Punjabi and occasionally in Persian, Braj Bhasha, and Hindi. His first major hit in Pakistan was the song Haq Ali Ali, which was performed in a traditional style with traditional instrumentation. The song featured restrained use of Khan's sargam improvisations.[21]

1980s